


The New Robins

by TheAdelaideParade



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-04 01:13:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20462594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAdelaideParade/pseuds/TheAdelaideParade
Summary: Ex-Commissioner James Gordon is not the kind of man prone to sentimental outbursts, but making this kind of discovery at his age might just do him in. Or: Jim Gordon meets the new generation of Robins.





	The New Robins

Ex-Commissioner James Gordon is not the kind of man prone to sentimental outbursts. In fact, the last time he can remember crying was the birth of his first grandchild. At the time he had still been the Police Commissioner, and as such had gotten the call that Barbara was in labor while he was at the office. He had rushed to the hospital with perhaps more speed than necessary, and sat anxiously in the waiting room for hours.

At 11:42 pm, an incredibly disheveled but beaming Dick Grayson emerged from the room. “Come meet her,” Dick said, unable to hide the pride in his voice.

That was fine. It meant he didn’t comment when Gordon’s voice wavered as he asked “It’s a girl?”

He got his answer as he stepped into the room and met the eyes of his beautiful, exhausted daughter. “Dad,” she said, voice thick with joyful tears, “meet Robyn.”

Gordon laughed even as his vision blurred. “Ha! You named her after that vigilante? Even after all the trouble he gives your old man?”

So fixated was he on the pink swaddled bundle in Barbara’s arms that he missed the knowing look she and Dick exchanged.

“Well, he’s saved the city more times than we could count,” Barbara countered, her eyes still fixed on her husband.

“And we couldn’t very well name the kid ‘Batman,’” Dick interjected with a chuckle.

Barbara held out the infant. “Here, hold her.”

Her father took the girl carefully, and gazed in wonder at her beautiful green eyes, just like her mother’s. “Hello, Robyn,” he whispered, and a tear fell down his cheek.

Gordon shakes his head as he walks. Look at him, reminiscing in his old age. But who could blame him? It’s hard for him to believe that the precious infant he had held all those years ago would be finishing middle school in only a few weeks. It’s this unbelievable passage of time that drives him out for pensive walks late at night.

Well, that and his maddening daughter. She doggedly tries to convince him that it’s too dangerous for him to be out alone at night, no matter how often he reminds her that his job up until recently was literally fighting the low-lives that prowl in the darkness. She only shakes her head like _he’s_ the one being unreasonable. So he likes to occasionally go out to the bad part of town when it gets dark just to prove that he can in fact survive a calm walk on his own. Maybe that makes him stubborn, but he thinks he’s earned it by now.

There’s a noise above him, and his heart beats a little faster. Shit, he can’t let Barbara be right. He looks around for something to defend himself when a shadow suddenly descends from the rooftop. Gordon jumps back, hand pressed to his chest.

“Batman!” he cries, for the shadow is indeed the Gotham Knight. Though nearly as old as Gordon, at least as far as he’s aware, the caped crusader has not grown any less stealthy with age. “Fuck’s sake, man, you nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“Language,” Batman grumbles, and the ex-Commissioner has only a moment to wonder what he means before a blur of color joins the two of them.

“Oh,” Gordon says, “you’ve got a new—?” but he’s cut off by another jumble of red-green-yellow falling from the sky.

There are two Robins. At the same time.

While Gordon sputters, Batman turns to the smaller Robin, who arrived second. “I told you to stay on the roof,” he says, and is it Gordon or is there a certain softness to The Night’s voice?

“Sorry.” The small Robin doesn’t sound very sorry at all. “The others want to come down as well.”

Batman sighs in a way that sounds practiced and extremely put-upon. “Fine. Just this once. It’s the Commissioner, after all.”

Gordon finds his voice to say, “I’m not actually the Commissioner anymore.” Batman only gives him a Look, but its impact is lessened by a grand total of five more traffic-light patterns descending from above to join them.

This time, Gordon is only speechless for a moment. “Wha-Batman! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!?”

In unison, the heads of all _seven_ Robins swivel from Gordon to Batman and back. Batman says nothing.

“One child sidekick was bad enough, but _seven_? How old are these children?? That one—” he points to an angry-looking Robin who barely comes up to his chest – “can’t be older than eight!”

“That’s what _we_ said,” pipes a female Robin, and is immediately elbowed by the tiny one.

Gordon huffs. “What do their parents have to say about this, Batman?”

Batman _smirks_. “I don’t think their parents have any right to talk.”

“Can we get back to patrol?” says the tiny Robin. His foot is tapping, and his arms are crossed petulantly.

“Chill out,” says the tallest Robin, in a _very familiar voice_.

Gordon’s head immediately jerks in her direction, and her eyes widen. He would know those green eyes anywhere.

“_ROBYN?”_

After a beat, the girl chuckles nervously. “Yes? I’m, uh, yes, I’m Robin, what –”

“Don’t give me that nonsense, kid!” Gordon all but roars. Batman says nothing. If Gordon didn’t know better he would say the Knight was amused. “You’re only thirteen! What are you thinking?”

“Dad was only _nine_,” she mutters. Gordon probably wasn’t meant to hear that, but his mind is suddenly spinning. So many things make sense. The familiarity of all of these Robins, and Batman’s sly comment about the kids’ parents. They’re the children of the original generation of Robins. (Gordon interacted with them a lot, of course he knew there were multiple Robins). And if Robyn is the daughter of a Robin, that can only make Dick Grayson the first of the four. But if Dick Grayson was the original Robin, that meant…

Gordon looks up into the sparkling, _suddenly recognizable_ eyes of _Bruce fucking Wayne_.

“Don’t. Say. A word,” he says to the infuriatingly amused man.

“Grandpa Gordon?” Robyn says timidly, and of course she’s shy now, she’s a smart kid, she’s surely realized that he’s _just now_ figured out the identity of The Batman, and he holds out a weary hand. He rubs at his temples with the other.

Ex-Commissioner James Gordon is not going to deal with this right now. He is going to leave the smug Batman and his entourage of children behind and go directly to bed. If it turns out when he wakes that this was not a bizarre dream or some kind of horrific new hallucination the Scarecrow is trying out, he will figure out _then_ how to deal with his unbelievably secretive daughter and how smug she is going to be for the rest of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! I wrote this work several years ago, but never felt quite confident enough to publish it anywhere until now. Is it unrealistic for Commissioner Gordon not to figure out Batman's identity for so long? Maybe. Is it hilarious? Definitely. It's a silly little one-shot, but if you enjoyed it, drop a comment and let me know what you thought!
> 
> Next up: A Critical Role/Adventure Zone crossover


End file.
